The UNM softball team was eliminated from the Mountain West Conference Tournament on Friday, losing a 10-inning thriller to San Diego State University 4-3.
The Lobos (39-24-1) battled back from an early 3-0 deficit, but they could not get a timely hit and made a costly error in the last inning to allow the winning run to score. The Aztecs (38-22) came up with the big play at the end of the game to advance to the championship game.
With one out in the top of the 10th inning, SDSU left fielder Kellie Nordhagen bounced a grounder to Lobo senior shortstop Marianna Fenelli, who misplayed the ball for an error. After a fielder's choice advanced Nordhagen to second, third baseman Tashie Aguinaga lined a single to center field, scoring what would be the winning run. In the bottom half of the inning, SDSU pitcher Sandra Durazo pitched a perfect inning to get the win.
UNM had many chances to win the game before the 10th inning, but could not come up with the hit it needed.
"We kept getting ourselves in position to win and we played with so much heart and worked so hard," Lobo head coach Susan Craig said. "But we didn't do the little things you have to do to win. Those types of things will always come back to get you."
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Lobos had base runners at second and third base with two outs, but Durazo got out of the jam by forcing junior left fielder Cayley Warner to foul out to the third baseman.
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The best chance came in the seventh when the Lobos mounted a two-out rally.
Senior designated hitter Kathy Moore walked and senior Nikki Heckroth pinch ran for Moore. Sophomore first baseman Elena Cranmer followed with a bloop single to center with Heckroth running on the play to third base. Aztec right fielder Tiffany Goudy bobbled the ball and Heckroth raced for home plate, but first baseman Summer Ehrsam’s relay throw beat her by a wide margin.
"It came down to, in pressure situations, they got the job done and we didn't," Moore said.
Freshman pitcher Amy Dumas (18-8) took the loss, allowing an unearned run on seven hits in nine innings pitched. She pitched 28 1/3 inning out of the Lobos’ 31 innings played in the tournament. Durazo (27-12) got the win as she gave up three runs on 11 hits in 10 innings of work.
UNM got off to a rough start, as freshman pitcher Hayley Punter gave up a three-run home run to Kovensky in the first inning. Punter would be taken out of the game after the inning.
The Lobos struck back in the bottom of the first when Fenelli singled to left field with one out. Moore hit a towering two-run home run to left-center field to draw the score to 3-2. With Dumas holding the Aztecs at bay, Moore tied the score in the bottom of the fifth inning when she crushed a solo home run just inside the left foul pole. Durazo knelt down and stared at the ground in disgust as the ball went over the fence.
Cranmer, senior right fielder Krissy Keene and sophomore center fielder Kelly Glass each contributed two hits for UNM.
"Unfortunately they got the last run, but we went down fighting," Keene
said. "We have a lot of heart on this team."
The Aztecs were led by second baseman Sarah Hershman, who went three-for-four, Aguinaga contributed three-of-four hits and Kovensky had two
hits to go along with three RBI's and two runs scored.
UNM advanced to face SDSU after beating the University of Nevada at Las Vegas 3-1 earlier in the day. The Lobos scored three runs in the first three innings and that was all Dumas needed. Dumas pitched seven innings of three-hit ball and struck out six Rebel batters, allowing only an RBI single by Rachel Goodpaster in the fourth inning.
The Lobos started things off early, scoring two runs in the first inning. Warner hit an infield single to lead off the inning. One out later, junior second baseman Brooke Chaffee hit a double to left center field, scoring Warner. Chaffee scored one out later when Cranmer singled to center field.
